Dead man comes back to life in Dowa: Uncles disown ‘ghost’

People in villages surrounding Group Village Headman Undi, Traditional Authority Nkukula in Dowa are living in disbelief, shock and bewilderment since Tuesday, June 21, as a man who they say died and buried last month was found alive digging sweet potatoes in a garden not very far from his village.

The father to ‘resurected’ Jailosi Tambala.

Jailosi Tambala, said to have died but found alive in a sweet potato garden

The owner of the garden pursued him believing he was a thief but when other people came to help apprehend the man, some recognized him as one they buried the previous month in a nearby village of Undi.

When they interrogated him about his identity, the man is said to have told them that he was Jailosi Tambala from Undi Village, the exact identity of the man they buried on May 30.

In an interview with Lilongwe News Agency, Group Village Headman Undi confirmed that the man is indeed Jailosi Tambala, one of his subjects, who died on May 28 and was buried on 30th.

But drama unfolded when his two uncles started disputing, saying he is not their nephew who died last month.

According to Group Village Headman Undi, the uncles of the man are saying that as far as they are concerned, their nephew died and was buried such that whoever is claiming to be Jailosi Tambala is just cheating people and they even issued a threat to the other members of the family that anyone accepting him will be dealt with.

“The threats by some members of the family forced us as leaders in the community to come and take part in the discussion about this issue so that truth must prevail. We will not mind anyone because now his father who lives in Lilongwe has come and whatever he says, will be final, because it is parents who know their children better than the uncles,” declared Group Undi.

Except the two uncles, the whole including his aunt, his wife and his father have accepted that the man is truly Jailosi Tambala, their relative, who died last month.

After the death of his wife, Tambala Jailosi, father to the alleged resurrected Jailosi Tambala, left his wife’s village Undi,back to his home,Nsalu in Lilongwe, leaving all his children behind with their aunt (young sister to Tambala’s mother) and the uncles.

Lembelan iZungulira and Sankhulani Zungulira, brothers to Jailosi Tambala’s late mother are not convinced that the man claiming to be their nephew is saying the truth, a stand that has earned them a lot of suspicion among the villagers most of whom confess that he is the man they knew before he died, the man they interacted with in social gatherings, the man they drank beer with.

His father, Tambala Jailosi Snr confirmed that the man is his son, born in January, 1981. He says everything about him is that of his son, the face, ears, eyes and all features denote those of his son.

“I have always been baffled with the mysterious deaths in my family, my wife was first, then my daughter last December and last month, my son, whom I am now happy that he is back. No doubt he is my son whom I have raised with my late wife till three years ago when I left after the death of my wife, and no one can refute that,” charged Tambala.

Last December, a sister to Jailosi also died mysteriously and the dead- alive Jailosi claim that she is at the place where he has been living, Zingani, and that it was her sister who said they cannot both be there but he should come back to take care of his and her children.

Jailosi Tambla, ‘the resurrected man’ himself claimed her sister and another woman, identified as Mai Ntchisi, made his release possible.

It is said that Jailosi Tambala told chiefs and the villagers that during his funeral ceremony, he was in the house watching everything even though people were not able to see him.

Group Undi said Jailosi Tambalais being kept at a traditional healer in a nearby village of Hoya to prevent whoever magically took him away from repeating the act.

Many people stream to Hoya Village every day to see Jailosi Tambala and they say he has improved a lot since he was first seen, he is still a bit abnormal, they say, still looking a lot confused and traumatized.

Many villagers confess that it is not easy to accept a man who had died and come back to life suggesting that after the discussions, the family need to report to police to give them authority to exhume what they buried on 30th May.